Yard Sale and Thrift Store Finds

Some thrift store finds while I was visiting Alabama this past weekend. There is a cute little thrift store in Gadsden called "Let There Be Light" that I picked up the old fashioned hand ice crusher. The other items were purchased at several other thrift stores around town.

This little yellow table and chairs is just the perfect size for my granddaughter, Sophia, to play at. I picked it up from a yard sale in Gadsden. The little flower pot and the marker container are glued to the table so they cannot be lost. When we sit on the porch she has her own little spot now.

At the same sale I found this cute little cabinet that fit perfectly in my tiny bathroom. It is great for holding extra roles of toilet paper and other small items.

I found a beautiful antique dresser that would have been perfect for my bathroom as a sink cabinet at the Salvation Army but when I measured it, it was a inch to wide. I wanted to cry because it was exactly what I wanted and it was only $89.00. I will have to keep looking.

A Special Birthday Gift for Hubby.

I never know what to get my husband for his birthday. Whenever I ask him if there is anything special that he wants he always says no. On a rare occassion, he might suggest a pair of drumsticks, drumheads, or a cymbal(you may have guessed that he is a drummer). With his birthday in August, I started about a month ago trying to come up with something special to get him. As I was surfing the internet for ideas I saw it. The perfect gift for my husband...tickets to see Ringo and his Allstar Band. Growing up in the 60's, The Beatles were his favorite band(and mine also), and being a drummer, Ringo was his favorite Beatle. Neither of us had ever had the pleasure of attending a concert that included any of the Beatles over the years, so this was a big thrill for us. I had wanted to keep it a secret and surprise him, but I was so excited after I bought the tickets I could only keep my mouth shut for about a week. Though my husband's birthday is still a month away, Ringo was playing our area tonight so hubby got his birthday present early and he loved every minute of it.

Members of the Allstar Band were Rick Derringer(the McCoys-'Hang On Sloopy'), Richard Page(Mr. Mister-'Broken Wings'), Wally Palmar(the Romantics-'What I Like About You'), Edgar Winter('Frankenstein' and 'Free Ride'), Gary Wright('Dreamweaver') and Gregg Bissonette(drummer).

Can you believe Ringo just turned 70 years old? He celebrated his birthday July 7 and was playing a show at Radio City Music Hall in New York and a special guest joined the show that night to wish him a Happy Birthday...Paul McCartney. Oh, the lucky fans that night, two Beatles instead of one. Too bad we couldn't have been at that show.

Sorry the pictures aren't too clear but we weren't sitting very close. I do love the zoom lens though.

Henry Ford's Winter Home

After viewing Thomas Edison's home and guest home(see yesterday's post) we were guided through a small garage that housed two old fords, a Model T and a Model A Ford. Right next to the garage was Henry Ford's winter home named 'The Mangoes'.

This Craftsman Bungalow is 3000 sq. ft. and Henry Ford purchased it in 1916 for $20,000. The furniture is not the original furniture, which was sold in the 1940's at an auction. In 1945 the house was sold to the Biggar Family for $20,000(the same price that Henry paid for it in 1916). The city of Fort Myers did not acquire the property until 1988. The Biggar family sold it to the city of Fort Myers for $1.2 million. The furniture has been staged from pictures and are period antiques and collectibles representative of the original furniture which was purchased in 1990 by the Foundation. The only original piece that belonged to the Ford family is the Grandmother Clock in the living room which was given back to the home in 1990. Below is the guest room and the bathroom on the main level.

The Wedgewood china on the dining room table is a set of Clara Ford's favorite pattern named Columbia. The Wedgewood Company made this set in 1990 especially for 'The Mangoes'.

Notice the window benches flanking the living room fireplace. They provided a place to sit when all the other furniture was removed from the room to open a space for square-dancing.

The picture below is the guest bedroom on the main floor south wing, with a private bath. Upstairs were two more bedrooms, a bathroom, a dressing room, office, and a sleeping porch. The north wing has 2 servants rooms and 1 bath. The main floor center housed the living room, dining room, butler's pantry, kitchen and pantry.

The only original piece of furniture that is in Ford's house is the 'grandmother' clock. The grandmother clock is said to be called that instead of the grandfather clock because it is shorter, thinner and never wrong, a joke the tour guide told. The clock is set to the time that Henry Ford died, which was a tradition for many Irish families back then.

The Model T and the Model A Fords

My grandson enjoyed checking out the old cars and hearing the stories that the guide was telling. One of the funny stories that the tour guide told was that one day Henry and Thomas were out and came upon a man on the side of the road whose car had broken down. Henry, who was an accomplished mechanic and still loved to tinker on cars stopped and offered his assistance to the man. He worked on the car until it was repaired. The man was very grateful for the help but did not know who had just repaired his car and offered to pay him for his troubles. Henry refused the man's money, stating he was rich and didnot need the money the man was insisting he take. Still trying to pay Henry for his help, the man remarked, 'if you are so rich, then why are you driving a Ford?" Talk about an embarassing moment.

Thomas Edison

Saturday night my husband and I packed a bag, grabbed the grandson and headed south for a 3 hour drive to Fort Myers, Florida. We pulled into a motel around 11:30 pm for a good nights sleep so we could be bright and bushy tailed for the day we had planned with our grandson. We had decided to take him to see Thomas Edison's winter home and laboratory and Henry Ford's winter home. They were neighbors and close friends. Jesse is a ten year old boy who just soaks up things like a sponge and was thrilled to see many of Edison's inventions. Edison purchased 13+ acres in 1885 and two homes were assembled on the property the following year. His home was known as Seminole Lodge.



The view from the porch.


The garden path connecting to the guest house.



Inside views of Seminole Lodge, Edison's winter home in Fort Myers,Florida. The bedroom is actually seperated from the rest of the house by a breezeway. Originally it was a kitchen but when he bought the house next door the kitchen was then moved to the other house. It was said that he didn't like to smell the food being cooked. There are two additional bedrooms upstairs.




Thomas Edison's lab near his home in Fort Myers, Florida. Pieces have been moved into the museum area while the actual lab is being restored.



In the actual lab...a cot was kept close by. Edison would take short naps during the day and would often work through the night.

The lab that is being restorated.


A generator




Some of the many inventions that Edison worked on over the years. He had over 1090 patents by the time he died in 1931 at the age of 84. The invention that he is most known for is the phonograph. Many people believe he invented the light bulb, but he did not invent the first light bulb. But the man who did couldnot keep the bulb burning for more than a few seconds, so what Edison actually did was perfect it, getting it to burn 40 hours, and later 1200 hours. Another of his inventions is the motion picture camera.




We were all amazed to find out that in 1925 Harvey Firestone gave Edison a 4 foot cutting of a Banyan Tree to add to his botanical research garden and that tree is now nearly an acre in diameter. This tree just seemed to go on forever. The following 3 pictures are of the single tree.





My next post will be Henry Ford's winter home. Jesse was very interested in the cars and stories that he heard about on the tour.

Just Some Photos

My daughter, Cindy, ready for her first dance recital at age 4. Way back in 1983.

Twenty seven years later, the costume now fits her daughter, Sophia, who is almost 4.


Cindy and her daughter, Sophia, just having fun. Sophia is a mixture of both Cindy and her husband, Brad.


But her son, Jesse, looks just like her.

My Summer Vacations

My grandchildren and my son-in-law during our 'after the 4th of july' picnic at the park.


My husband and my granddaughter, Sophia, the day before we left to come home.


Sophia, playing model in the window of a store in the mall.

I haven't been home much since the end of May. The last few years, my husband and I have spent my birthday in Alabama so I can be with the grandchildren. And even though we returned home to Florida during the first week in June, I was on my way back to Alabama two and a half weeks later with my sister and niece. We enjoyed a short visit and returned home six days later, joined by my daughter and my two grandchildren. My son-in-law couldn't get off from work so they came to visit family and friends without him. Because of the 4th of July weekend, their visit was a short one. After only 3 days they returned home just in time for the celebrations going on in their hometown and my husband and I decided to join them again. I had barely unpacked and I was packing again. Because somewhere along the way I had hurt the heal of my left foot and found it difficult to walk a lot, I stayed behind when everyone attended the 'First Friday' celebration and again the next night when everyone went to the fireworks display over the Coosa River. But I did manage to make it to the BBQ at my daughter's house on the 4th.
This stay was only six days, and we returned home to Florida this past Wednesday. Before we left my daughter told us that if we wanted, we could take our ten year old grandson with us if we promised to get him back in a week or so. Needless to say, we agreed and Jesse returned to Florida with us. He and my husband have been enjoying swimming in the pool for the past few days and Jesse will be going to Busch Gardens tomorrow with his other grandparents. The following day we will be taking him to Fort Myers to Thomas Edison's summer home and museum, which he is excited about. He loves museums and anything educational. Though my husband can't take off from work again so soon, I will be leaving again this Thursday to bring my grandson back to Alabama, with my mom (his great grandma) along for the ride. This will be another 5 or 6 day trip. I will be returning in time to celebrate my sister's 50th birthday with her. I am thrilled that I am getting to spend so much time with my grandchildren this summer, but I know that it is only going to make me miss them all the more when the trips come to an end. I just can't wait until we can finally sell our home in Florida and make the permanent move to be near them.

Weeki Wachee

My daughter and grandchildren are visiting from Alabama and we decided to take them to Weeki Wachee so they can enjoy the mermaids. Jesse has been there before but Sophia hasn't and the show was 'the Little Mermaid'. It was the same show that Jesse saw two years ago, but he still enjoyed it. We also took my niece, Brooke along to enjoy the afternoon. After the show, we walked around the park a little bit and came across this beautiful peacock.



This bird was definitely putting on a show for all the tourists, she turned and struted her stuff, walking back and forth for at least 5 minutes, blocking the entire walkway. It was as if she was posing for the cameras that kept flashing in her face.



Once her show was over we headed over for a photo shoot with the kids becoming part of the mermaid exhibit.




After leaving the park we went to Panera's for lunch and hit a store before returning home. The day proved to be a slightly exhausting for little Sophia.